Brazil Day 5: Social-Spiritual-Health

The 3 goals of the Brazilian Bible Society are to reach people in 3 areas: social, spiritual, and health.

Today, Tuesday, we woke up early to see the town that we would work with for the next 2 days. We slept while we traveled over night. The name of the town was Cachoeira Do Arari. We were invited to eat breakfast in town, but before we went to town one of the Brazilian pastors shared a devotional which was a great way to start the day. We headed into town for breakfast which was hosted by the local government. They had quite the spread of food and it was all so wonderful. They were very hospitable to us.

Pastor Edmilson shared a devotional and Tom interpreted.

One view from the boat we could see the houses. The houses were definitely more like shacks in the marshes.

On the other side of the boat we saw the river and rainforest.

This was near by the dock. Its an abandoned post office.

People were already waiting in line to be seen when we woke up. This is the dock off of the boat.

The "school bus" that went down the river to pick up children for school.

Whether on the back of a bike or driving a small boat down the river, these kids were pretty fearless.

The streets were dirt and there were a ton of wild dogs. From what I understood this was the nicer part of town.

While walking through the town dad found this gem.

Waiting with the officials before going inside to eat breakfast.

Breakfast!

Walking back to the boat, down the pier. The line had already grown as you can see.

After breakfast we went back to the boat to figure out exactly what we needed to do. The nurses triaged up on deck. We were able to treat some things with over the counter medications. We took vital signs and wrote down the general complaint to pass on to the doctors. If we felt like they needed to be seen by one of the doctors we sent them down to the basement of the boat. Mom and Carlos, who spoke Portuguese and English, worked together and Dawn and Julia, who also spoke Portuguese and English and was a nurse, worked together. Amanda was a nurse that triaged with Rai and they both spoke almost completely Portuguese. I worked between Dawn and my mom since there weren't any more interpreters and they were the more experienced nurses.  This turned out to be the best of both worlds because I could interact with patients but I also got to hear/see what both nurses doing. I got blood pressures and other vital signs as well as worked with the children. I walked down the more emergent patients to see the doctors. I relieved the nurses when they needed, but Dawn and my mom were troopers!

Rai helping a man.

Triage

Mom and Carlos did a great job working together.

My friend Hilary was on the boat both days. Tuesday I was able to sit and talk with her for a while. She had 2 little siblings (the boy in the video on tomorrow's blog and the little girl in the picture below). She spoke very little English but we managed to spend some time together and just laugh about what was happening around us.

This kid pretty much hung out with us all day. He spoke a few words of English. He had some kind of dwarfism. He was super cool to hang out with though and he became popular on deck.

This is the other end of the boat where there were steps leading to another waiting area for the doctors. The doctors were right inside that door.

In the basement of the boat the 3 doctors and 3 interpreters saw patients. There was also a lab and lab technician. The little lady who worked the lab had been on the boat for 34 years! She was wonderful and absolutely adorable. There was a pharmacy which another Brazilian nurse and pastor worked. My uncle Fred (a dentist), my aunt (a hygienist), Rebecca (a Brazilian dentist), and Rebecca’s mother (another Brazilian dentist) were also down in the basement in 2 dental rooms.

The Pharmacy with a pastor and a Brazilian nurse.

The lab tech who had been on this boat for 34 years! She was a sweet heart!

Dr. Glynn and his interpreter Pastor Alex

Alex, Glynn, Bill, Tom, Jim, and Kevin.
Pastor Alex and Dr. Glynn, Bill and Dr. Jim, and Pastor Tom and Kevin P.A. worked together.

 One of the Brazilian dentists, Rebeca, could speak English which made for a great working team! Rebeca's mom was also a dentist who did dental triage and teaching in Portuguese. The dentists did extractions and fillings. Some the extractions were very difficult because the teeth were rotting above the gum but the roots were very strong still, "like marble" as my uncle described it. Rebeca and Fred really had to work together on many of the patient's extractions. Mom and I actually watched him pull a tooth while we were on a break and pus was oozing out of the little girl’s gum after he pulled the tooth because of the infection. I had never seen anything like that before, and from what I understood, that kind of infection was prevalent.

Fred, Julie, and Rebeca

Rebeca's mother triaged in the basement of the boat, but she also did dental hygiene teaching up on deck with children. Fred and Julie brought the Nemo fish with teeth for the children to practice with.

The lines grew until they extended up the pier.

Cicero was so much more than crowd control. He absolutely loved on all of the people who came through the clinic. He evangelized and prayed with many many people. He was a shining light to be around!

Packed house! This is on the dock, people waiting to be seen.

Dad was out with the hair dressers and children’s activities near the town, on the other end of the pier. Dad, Patsy and Pam made balloon animals for kids. Pretty much every kid that came on the boat had balloon animals.

To the left of this is the pier. This tree was essentially the roof.

This was where they did balloon animals, face painting, kid's books, hair cuts, and nails with the children. This was on the other end of the pier near the town.

Christian story books and activities were given out to all of the children with lots of love!

Pam and Dawn at the school helping with the children.

team work for the balloon making

The balloon man

I'm pretty sure that every single kid that came on that boat had at least 1 balloon!

Ines did nails to interact with children. Bianca and Janaina also did nails and played with the children.

Painting faces and arms of the children.

Isaias did such a great job with everyone. He was funny but then he always evangelized!

Carla was a Brazilian hairdresser

Marco, a Brazilian hair dresser.

When we went to visit dad and the others I talked to these 3 boys. I tricked them and I was able to figure out which ones could speak some English. I just liked making them laugh when trying to speak some Portuguese. I figured out their names, ages, and that they liked to play futbol! :)

It rained every day, and it never came by surprise with these clouds heading our way.

Part way through the day we noticed a bunch of adolescent boys using the post office dock to swim off of. This dock was extremely wobbly and they would just climb up the posts to get back to the top.

I learned quickly how to communicate through smiling, touch, and a few Portuguese words. The kids were so sweet and friendly and I was obviously drawn to them. Dawn, an American RN, said that I better specialize in pediatrics because it was so evident to her that I loved the kids and they liked me. In that moment when I was immersed with the children I realized the joy that I have when I am working with kids. I have always had jobs with children and I have volunteered at my church as soon as I was of age but I have made excuses of why I wouldn't be a pediatric nurse. One of my take-aways from this trip was actually that I do want to specialize in pediatric nursing. There will be heart breaking cases but I love to love children. I do believe that gift was given to me by God and that I need to heed to that pulling in my heart.

The line for the 3 doctors was so long that we stopped triaging at about 3 in the afternoon and the doctors didn't finish seeing patients until about 7pm.

We ate a late dinner and then headed into the town’s gymnasium for community worship. There was some very intense preaching in Portuguese and Portuguese worship music. Although the service was nice, the doctors and interpreters were exhausted so I felt sorry for them in that way but I think we all enjoyed it.

Brazilian pastors went up on stage and also each preached in Portuguese.
Pastor Tom (from Maryland, he planted churches in Brazil in the past), Pastor Alex, Pastor  Tiago, and Pastor Edmilson. The other 3 pastors were from Familia da Fe.

Good time of fellowship!

Pastor Alex preached on 2 Chronicles 20:17, "You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your poisitions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you."